I am a Licensed Mental Health Counselor licensed in Florida with over 9 years of experience working as a mental health and behavioral therapist. I am 38 years old and graduated with a masters in rehabilitation and mental health counseling from the University of South Florida. I am caring, straight-forward and doing this job because I love what I do and believe in the therapeutic process as it has helped me. I would like to believe that the people I work with know they are in good hands, working with a real human being and not someone that is just “going through the motions.” I have worked with clients with a wide range of challenges including relationship problems, difficulty getting along with other people, severe physical, emotional and sexual trauma, anger management difficulties, severe family disturbances, depression, anxiety, self-esteem, stress management and poor decision making. I have a great deal of experience working with parenting for teenagers and adolescents. I have worked with single parents, married couples, adoptive parents and grandparents raising their grandchildren. I have a great deal of experience working with the families of people with mental health problems. My counseling style has a cognitive-behavioral approach which focuses on how events connect with thoughts, feelings and ultimately, decisions. I am solution focused, which includes utilizing one’s strengths to get the best possible outcomes. Yes, I listen, but I also teach skills, provide activities to practice skills and provide material for my clients to help retain information and carry it forward with them. I can be respectfully confrontational as needed to help break through obstacles. I promote a healthy, balanced lifestyle and assist with achieving that. I heavily focus on accepting responsibility for the things that occur and attempt to re-train the brain to “auto-correct” when we catch ourselves looking outward for why things are happening to us. Most importantly, I try to create a strong, connected and trusting bond with the people I work with. I believe that we all have the strength within to improve in any area that we wish to improve in. I believe that we are all valuable and worthwhile. I believe that I can help you on your journey.